Heat exchanger air circulating system



Nov. 1, 1955 A. KOFF 2,722,404

HEAT EXCHANGER AIR CIRCULATING SYSTEM Filed Aug. 2, 1952 IN VEN TOR. flLEXfi/VDEP KOFF' United States Patent 2,722,404 HEAT EXCHANGER AIR CIRCULATING SYSTEM Alexander Kofl, Culver City. Calif. Application August 2, 1952, Serial N 0. 302,365 8 Claims. (Cl. 257-137) This invention relates to air circulators or distributors, and particularly to a system for rapidly varying the temperature of the air in an area to be heated or cooled and to rapidly recirculate the air for the purpose of purifying it.

In my U. S. Patent No. 2,679,202 of May 25, 1954, I disclose and claim an air circulator and distributor which is provided with two air paths, one of which controls air of relatively high temperature, and the other of which controls air being re-circulated and filtered. In my co-pending application, Ser. No. 302,366, filed August 2, 19152, I disclose and claim a similar form of two-path air circulator and distributor in which these air paths are separately defined and confined for obtaining improved air circulation and the control thereof.

The present invention is directed to another form of air heater or cooler which embodies the basic principles of my above mentioned co-pending applications, but which has a higher efiiciency from the standpoint of controlling the speed of temperature variation of the air; that is, the rate of rise of the temperature of the air. The unit embodies a heat exchanger or converter, over or through which the air is passed under control of two blowers, all the air being moved by the blowers passing through air cleaning filters. Although there is no air being heated and circulated which does not pass through the filters, the two blowers control the amount of air which passes through or over the heating elements, and thus, the amount of air being heated. In this manner, the rate at which the air is heated or re-circulated is under complete control of the operator by his selecting of air forcing motors or his selection of the speed of operation of the respective motors.

The principal object of the invention, therefore, is to facilitate the circulation of air to control temperature.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved air circulator or purifier for either hot or cool air.

A further object of the invention is to provide a completely controllable air circulator for rapidly and uniformly varying the temperature of the air in an area being treated without causing drafts or hot spots in the area.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an air conditioner which cleans all air being moved by the conditioner.

Although the novel features which are believed to be characteristic of this invention will be pointed out with particularity in the appended claims, the manner of its organization and the mode of its operation will be better understood by referring to the following description, read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof, in which:

Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an air circulating unit embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a front cross-sectional view of the unit shown in Fig. 1 and taken along the line 22 of Fig. 1, and

.Fig. 3 is a plan cross-sectional view of the unit taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Referring now to the drawings, in which the same numerals identify like elements, a casing 5 has a curved back section 6 and a flat front section 7 with outside panels 8 and 9. A casing 11 is provided on the front panel 7 for housing the blower motors.

The unit provides two air paths, one of which is under the control of a blower 13 driven by a motor 14, and which receives its air through a pair of air filters 16 and 17, such as spun glass or the like, and which are held in openings in the panels 8 and 9 by respective brackets 18 and 19. The direction of the air is shown by arrows 21.

The air entering the casing of blower 13 is forced up a pipe or conduit 23 into the lower portion 24 of a heat exchanger casing 25 as shown by the arrows 26. By means of directional baiiies 28, the air is passed over the heated exchanger pipes 30, the air striking the back plate 6 and moving upwardly as shown by the arrows 31. The pipes may carry steam or hot water from a source connected over pipes 33 and 34, or the converter may be a unit having electrically heated wires therein.

The passage of the air, as shown by arrows 31, is upwardly in a path formed by the back panel 6 and side panels 8 and 9, and is forced out through the upper portion of a grill 36, as shown by the arrows 37. In this path of air, there is provided an ultra violet light source 38 for destroying certain bacteria in the air.

Referring now to the second air path, it is formed by a blower 40 driven by a motor 41, its intake being from the upper portion 42 of the casing 25 of the heat converter or exchanger. The blower 40 forces the air up a pipe or duct 44, as shown by the arrows 45, and this air is forced out through the central section of the grill 36 and under the air from the path shown at 31, as shown by the arrows 46. The air which passes upwardly through the duct 44 is part of the air which has already passed through the lower section of the heat exchanger, this air being drawn over or through the heat exchanger over the pipes 30 in the upper section of the exchanger, as shown by the arrows 47. Thus, this air passes twice through the exchanger before being forced into the area being treated, and consequently, has a higher temperature than the air passing into the area from the first described path.

When it is desired to quickly raise the temperature of the air in a room, both blowers 13 and 40 are operated at full speed and the air is rapidly heated and discharged into the room. However, because of the two paths, the air is not delivered in a single hot stream, but in two streams of different temperatures, which permit the heating to be accomplished uniformly throughout the room. Also, as has been found with this type of air discharge, no drafts are created within the room, even when both blowers are operating at their highest speeds. If a slower rate of heating is desired, only the blower 13 may be operated, while still obtaining the high efiiciency of heating. Furthermore, since all the air is passed through the filters 16 and 17, a more complete and efiicient purifying action is obtained.

I claim:

1. An air conditioner comprising a casing having an opening at the top thereof, means for forming a pair of independent air paths within said casing and having their exits adjacent one another at said opening in said casing, each of said means including an air blower, and a source of heat, one of said paths including an independent portion of said source of heat and one of said blowers, and the other of said paths including both of said blowers in series and all of said source of heat, the exit of said last-mentioned path being below the exit of said first-mentioned path and containing air at a higher temperature than the air in said first mentioned path.

2. An air conditioner comprising a source of heat, a casing for said source having two vertical portions, a two-section heat source within said casing, a blower for forcing air through the lower section of said heat source and up one portion of said casing and out an exit at the top of said casing, and a second blower for drawing a certain amount of air moved by said first blower through the upper section of said heat source and through the other portion of said casing and out a second exit below said first mentioned exit, said last mentioned air having a higher temperature than said first mentioned air.

3. An air conditioner in accordance with claim 2, in which filters for eliminating dirt from said air are provided, said first mentioned blower drawing air through said filters.

4. An air heating and distributing system comprising an elongated vertical casing having an opening at the top and an opening at the bottom thereof, a two-section source of heat within said casing, means for drawing air through said bottom opening and forcing air through the lower section of said heat source and out said top opening, and means for drawing a certain amount of air which has passed through said lower section of said heat source through the upper portion of said heat source and out said top opening below the air which has passed only through the lower section of said heat source.

5. An air heating and distributing system in accordance with claim 4, in which said heat source is a heater having upper and lower air passages therethrough, said first mentioned air drawing means being a blower passing air through the lower passages only of said heater, and said second mentioned air drawing means being a blower drawing a certain portion of the air through said lower passages through said upper passages.

6. An air heating and distributing system in accordance with claim 5, in which means are provided for separating said air passing through said lower passages and not through said upper passages from the air passing through both of said upper and lower passages.

7. A system for controlling the temperature and rate of distribution of air in a certain area, comprising an elongated vertical casing having openings in the bottom and top thereof, separated air ducts having vertically separated air exits and extending downwardly from said top opening within said casing, a two-section heater within said casing, air forcing means in one of said ducts for drawing air through the top section of said heater and up said duct and out said lower exit, air forcing means for forcing air through the lower section of said heater and up said other duct and out said upper exit and drawing air through said bottom opening, and a motor for each of said air forcing means.

8. A system in accordance with claim 7, in which air cleaning filters are provided in said bottom opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,502,858 Little July 29, 1924 1,975,859 Nelson Oct. 9, 1934 1,990,110 Bridges Feb. 5, 1935 2,074,622 Sargent et a1. Mar. 23, 1937 2,076,399 Carson Apr. 6, 1937 2,188,388 Butterfield Ian. 30, 1940 2,419,119 Christensen Apr. 15, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS 379,430 Great Britain Sept. 1, 1932 705,319 France June 4, 1931 

